In Brief:
- DigitalArt4Climate initiative revealed the winners of the DigitalArt4Climate NFT art contest.
- Bricx Martillo Dumas was awarded first place for his piece Nexus.
- The NFTs will be auctioned off on World Environment Day 2022.
At the United Nations Climate Change Conference(COP26), the DigitalArt4Climate initiative announced the finalists and winners of the DigitalArt4Climate art competition.
The COP26 conference was held in Glasgow, Scotland on November 11 with a board of thought leaders and blockchain visionaries being the attendees.
DigitalArt4Climate is a crypto climate initiative co-organized by IAAI GloCha, Unique Network, Exquisite Workers, and, UN-Habitat youth program.
The initiative enables a global community of artists to create NFT works that are focused on advocating for climate action.
The DigitalArt4Climate initiative’s goal is to encourage artists and activists all over the world to create digital art that will inspire people to take action in response to the climate crisis.
Miroslav Polzer, Founder of GloCha, DigitalArt4Climate, and COP26 host, announced the competition had received 208 entries from 58 countries.
The artists used a variety of mediums, including digitized acrylic and mural paintings, as well as artificial intelligence and generative art, according to Polzer.
DigitalArt4Climate collaborated with Artgence, an environmentally conscious metaverse space, to create a 3D and emotionally immersive virtual gallery to exhibit the work of the 30 finalists.
The DigitalArt4Climate initiative converts art into digital assets or clean NFTs using eco-friendly blockchain technology.
The NFT collection is expected to be auctioned off on World Environment Day 2022 in support of the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030.
The contest winners were determined by the results of an online public vote, while the special winner slot was chosen by consortium members.
Bricx Martillo Dumas, a digital artist from the Philippines, was declared the winner with his piece Nexus.
Nexus is a melancholy depiction of a human hand holding a plastic bag containing a blue drink and straw, as well as a cigarette whose smoke floats into the atmosphere as tiny leaves.
Dumas cited Typhoon Haiyan’s life-changing experience in his hometown as the primary reason for his environmental impetus behind climate action.
Iranian artist Amir Karimi for Every Second Lake, French artist Ekaterina Lestienne for The Wildfire, and American artist Chloé Hajjar for Allegory of Survival shared second place in the contest.
The consortium’s choice for the special award ended up going to Mathare Roots and the Graffiti Girls from Mlango Kubwa for their mural artwork, Team Spirit in Kenya.
Users with a Polkadot JS wallet address can now claim an eco-friendly free NFT asset titled Global Angel by visiting the DigitalArt4Climate website.
Global Angel issued on Unique Network and built on the Polkadot relay chain represents a message of unity between physical and digital worlds.
Irina Karagyuar, the head of metaverse growth at Unique Network, stated “We have inherited incredible legacies from our common ancestors. Let’s become the ancestors that next generations will be proud of. Let’s be passionate, vulnerable and rebel for life. Let’s look deeply at entirely new ways and tools to build a better world. Let our lives document humanity’s impact on the planet.”
The point we have to focus on is that rather than using the NFT collectibles for a promotional event, the United Nations adopted them to highlight the climate crisis and that sure makes a difference.
